Komi Dodji Akpatcha
The territorial reform undertaken in France as part of the Public Action Modernization Program (MAP)-which succeeded the now-defunct General Review of Public Policies (RGPP)-led to Parliament’s adoption of the Law on the Modernization of Public Action and the Strengthening of Metropolitan Areas on January 27, 2014. The main innovation of this law lies in the establishment of metropolitan areas-a new category of public intermunicipal cooperation entities (EPCI)-which, far from streamlining public action as intended by the government, have once again complicated the local institutional landscape. This book aims to analyze the legal and institutional implications of this law in light of the Grenoble-Alpes Métropole Urban Community, which is one of the twelve (12) metropolitan areas established by the law. On the eve of this transformation, scheduled for January 1, 2015, several questions have arisen, particularly regarding the definition of the metropolitan territory, the distinction between a metropolis and an urban community, the proximity of public action to citizens, and the implementation of participatory democracy in the Grenoble metropolitan area.